I liked the draft though. I think at worst Kerrigan, Jarvis and Hankerson are serviceable starters and at best they all have the ability to be standouts. Helu could be promising, and looks like he might have the speed we've been missing in the backfield for a few years now. Apart from that, I think most of the other guys are roster filler and special teams guys.

Of course I wish we'd gotten a QB but if the Shanaclan didn't think Gabbert or Ponder was their guy and they didn't have a shot at Locker then that's that. I think the talk about Beck starting is a smokescreen and we'll be aggressive in finding a QB. I figure we'll also be very active in free agency building on this draft class looking to make a big step in the right direction as we did under Gibbs getting Marcus Washington, Shawn Springs and Cornelius Griffin.

"Guess [Ryan Kerrigan] really does have a good motor. And is relentless. And never quits on a play. And just keeps coming. And probably eats Wheaties and drinks Apple Pie smoothies and shaves with Valvoline." -Dan Steinberg DC Sports Bog

Yea, you need more options for the poll. Overall, I would give us a B-/C+ grade. We filled some needs, but we reached on several players (Jenkins, Helu, Gomes, Paul in particular) so we didn't get great value out of several picks.

I love the Jenkins/Kerrigan combo. One is an excellent pass rusher with good run stopping ability and one is an excellent run stopper with good pass rushing ability. They compliment each other very well. With Perry Riley in the middle along with Fletcher, Kerrigan and Orakpo on the outside, and Carriker and Jenkins on the ends, we are are solid NT away from being a dominant front 7. Our safety's are very good and our corners are halfway there. I like the defensive improvements as we also have very good depth at each position.

On Offense, I feel like Shannahan will make our RB situation work next year with one of these guys. Along with a handful of WR's to choose from, I'm good with Hankerson, AA and hopefully Kelly or Moss as the starters. Our TE's are very good, and our line was coming together last year and will only get better. Big question mark at QB, so those wanting to build the team before a franchise QB should be happy.

Free agency will only help upgrade some area's. I'm hopeful that next year we make as many strides on offense as this years strides on defense. Again, looking for something in 2012. I'm pleased so far

Miss you 21

12/17/09 - Ding Dong the Witch is Dead...Which Old Witch? The Wicked Witch.

We won't know for years, but my read at this point is they did a good job. We needed a broad infusion of youth at a lot of positions, not one or two key players to complete the puzzle. Right strategy for this year.

Groucho: Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him

Proverb: Failure is not falling down. Failure is not getting up again

Twain: A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way

I like the draft. I think that we created opportunities for ourselves with good character, hard working guys who can come in and start but also have the skill set to sit and learn. All these guys are special teams studs which is always valuable as well for backups.

Lastly - I said b4 the draft that I really didn't feel any of the QB's were ready to play NOW and need to sit. If any, Ponder was the guy and it appears that Minny felt the same way. But I also didn't feel that Ponder was worth a #12 or even where we chose at #16. Mid to late 20's sure but not mid 1st round for a guy coming off injury and questions about if he has the arm strength for the NFL.

So all in all - like our picks and hope that 1/2 the guys pan out and become special players for our team. Would be a special draft if so.

* we showed recognition of the importance of the draft, of building through it with enough picks, and trying to acquire quality depth through it (hopefully)

* we continued to show recognition of the importance of the upfront guys (after getting Williams on OL last year). this was something that was almost TOTALLY ignored by Vinny for ages.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT OUR DRAFT:

for most of the years within a decade, we had a good defense and a pitiful offense. all Shanahan had to do was keep the defense and come fix the offense. instead, he took our one strength and turned it into our biggest weakness by switching schemes to the 3-4. as glad as i am we are [hopefully] getting the right players for that scheme, from the inside out (the way it should be done, unlike in the recent past when we've tried to build from the secondary in), the bottom line is that if we'd just kept the 4-3, those top 2 picks could've gone toward quality offensive linemen which we DESPERATELY need.

now we're likely to limp through another season on offense. and i'm honestly getting pretty sick of that.

oh and obviously we'll have to see if Gabbert (or Dalton etc) ends up becoming a franchise QB. and crying if so. but for now i'm willing to believe that Shanahan simply thought this was a shoddy draft class for QBs, and next years is better.

for most of the years within a decade, we had a good defense and a pitiful offense. all Shanahan had to do was keep the defense and come fix the offense. instead, he took our one strength and turned it into our biggest weakness

I totally know what you're saying, but while our D was our strength keep in mind we had some glaring weaknesses regarding sacks, turnovers and critical stops. I like 3-4 strategy of taking some burns but attacking and forcing mistakes. At least if they burn us it's over and our O gets back on the field. The death marches down the field of the other team taking 10 minutes off the clock in a drive in the fourth quarter and our O sitting on their hands getting cold were killers. And assuming we're switching, I'd rather just do it then try to do O out and D later.

Groucho: Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him

Proverb: Failure is not falling down. Failure is not getting up again

Twain: A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way

I like the first 3 picks. I think they will be solid players for a while and there is star potential in Kerrigan and Hankerson. We got a steal with Hankerson in the 3rd round. Analysts have been saying we reached with the Jenkins pick but I think he will end up playing DE in the 3-4 system and be pretty good at it. Hopefully a good amount of the later round picks make the team and contribute in some way.

for most of the years within a decade, we had a good defense and a pitiful offense. all Shanahan had to do was keep the defense and come fix the offense. instead, he took our one strength and turned it into our biggest weakness

I totally know what you're saying, but while our D was our strength keep in mind we had some glaring weaknesses regarding sacks, turnovers and critical stops. I like 3-4 strategy of taking some burns but attacking and forcing mistakes. At least if they burn us it's over and our O gets back on the field. The death marches down the field of the other team taking 10 minutes off the clock in a drive in the fourth quarter and our O sitting on their hands getting cold were killers. And assuming we're switching, I'd rather just do it then try to do O out and D later.

Yea, but you can tweak the scheme to be more aggressive and get more sacks/turnovers. There are plenty of 4-3 defenses that get sacks and turnover.

DCD has a point....the first two picks in the draft were used to get players to fill holes that were specifically created by the switch to the 3-4.